FishWorks

Always wanted to go tot he Fishworks in Chiswick so when I spotted this one I decided to try it out - BIG MISTAKE!

In the entrance where the fresh fish is kept, we asked the guy if they could make a spaghetti with fresh prawns, and he said sure so we went on inside.

After I asked for that meal the waiter came back 5 mins later and said he couldn't add prawns to it. So I said how about shrimps? He went away and came back saying he couldn't add those either. I asked what he could add, and he said "nothing" saying "the meals are already cooked so we cannot add fish from one meal to another"... Then he said "we can give you plain spaghetti with nothing in it at all"! And this conversation took place whilst sitting at the window looking at all the variety of uncooked fish sitting there waiting to be cooked...

At this point I should have left, but given we were in a bit of a rush, so went ahead and ordered fish cakes, chips, tagliatelle (with no seafood!), a "seafood platter" which looked horrendous, and a couple of soft drinks. Total bill = £48.

We would have had a better experience in a well known burger chain - cheaper and better food.

I will NEVER go to any Fishworks again, nor recommend it to anyone. I rarely write reviews but felt the need to express myself for the benefit of others - spend your hard earned elsewhere...
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Sonny - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Sunday, June 22, 2008

Fishworks...Swallow Street.

We recently went to the Fishworks on Swallow street...Big Mistake.

It was the most overpriced, worst meal we have had in a long time. We go out to eat at least three times a week. The service also left a lot to be desired. The meal started out by an offer to taste a wine special. Duly done, we never saw or heard from that waiter again to take drink orders. After 15 minutes another employee turned up to take meal orders. We had wanted drinks and olives first...forget that idea since this was a pre theatre meal which we told them when seated and we had allowed 2 hours.

Now to the food. We all requested the Dover sole, grilled and dry - no problem we were told. It shouldn't have been considering the cost of the fish with absolutely nothing else on the plate. As stated in a previous review, the fish came floating in a soup of butter....disgusting. When we complained, again taking 10 minutes to track down some help, we were told sorry but it would take too long to re cook - end of story. Additionally, the sides of vegtables were horribly burned. To top it off, two out of the three of us were sick the next day. Needless to say, this is one restaurant that will not get a second chance nor will we recommend it to friends.
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Thursday, June 05, 2008

We went to Fishworks in Marylebone High Street on Saturday and had a most enjoyable experience. We went late (ie 2.45pm) and were not greeted with the "oh our kitchen closes at 3pm" business that you get at some places. We ordered a dozen oysters to share between four of us to start with which were freshly shucked and delicious. We then ordered the fish stew, the fish soup with Rouilee & croutons (which two of us had), and a grilled piece of fish, as well as sides of sugar snaps and mashed potatoes. The fish stew was the winner on the table, but all dishes were of a high standard in terms of freshness of ingredients and flavour (and for £5.95 for the fish soup, the value was fantastic). The sides should not be missed - the beans were cooked to crispy perfection, and the mash was smooth and full of flavour. The service was excellent - attentive when necessary. Coffee was very good, as were the bite sized pieces of brownies that came with them. The wait staff were most obliging in providing an extra plate of the bite sized brownies when ours disappeared all to quickly! Although we were late in, we did not feel rushed to finish our meal. In every aspect we enjoyed our expereince and will be back. I have been living in London for 9 months now, and wish I had discovered this place earlier!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, May 19, 2008

We decided to try Fishworks as twe have passed the restaurant several times and it always looked inviting. As my partner is a particular fan of great seafood, this seemed like an ideal choice to round off a very pleasant Sunday in London with a nice meal.

All started off well as the setting was nice and the staff seemed very helpful. Upon ordering our starters we were informed that our first choice of squid was unavailable, this was very disappointing as it is a particular favorite so my partner ordered the Fishworks Cocktail and I chose the salad nicoise instead.

I specifically asked for the salad to arrive undressed with a little dressing on the side but when it arrived it was swimming with oil and I had an extra portion of dressing as well. This was made all the more unappetizing by the fact that the tuna was very dry, unflavoursome and almost certainly past its best. It was little better than the tinned variety.

The Fishworks Cocktail could have been nice but it was impossible to tell what was in the dish due to the overload of seafood sauce. This was not mentioned on the menu and it was barely a step up from the dreaded prawn cocktails of the 1970’s and certainly not what you would expect for £9 from a fish restaurant.

Moving on, I decided to try an Apple and elderflower organic juice – but unfortunately that was off the menu as well so I went for the raspberry lemonade and was promptly served with a St Clements. At least I had the very dry and slightly stale bread to see me through to the main course!

Unfortunately things didn’t get any better. I decided to treat myself to the Dover sole and once again I specifically asked for it to be served without any parsley butter or dressing – and after my experience with the first course I tried to make it as clear as possible to the waiter. I had initially intended to go for the special of cod with salsa sauce if it wasn’t for the fact you had run out of salsa as well. My partner ordered the scallops.

When the Sole arrived, once again it was swimming with butter to the point where the fish was almost submerged. After taking one mouthful the obviously beautiful underlying fish was completely ruined by the oil slick I had specifically not asked for. I informed two of your staff who simply apologized but offered no replacement.

My partner’s scallops also suffered from the same deluge of garlic butter – again to the point of not being able to taste what turned out to be very average and rather small scallops.

We were both slightly disappointed that none of the main courses were served with vegetables included (given the prices) but decided to order a selection of sugar snaps, roasted veg, Greek salad and chips on the side

Initially we were worried we might have over ordered with the side dishes but we need not have worried. The Mediterranean veg constituted two limp slices of courgette, one tiny slice soggy sweet potato and a slice of onion. This was barely enough for 2 forkfuls. The sugar snaps were a reasonable portion size but unfortunately they were also rendered inedible by the crazy amount of oil and butter and went back practically untouched. The chips were thankfully the least greasy part of the meal and the Greek salad was actually quite tasty and turned out to be the highlight of a quite unpleasant dining experience.

Any thoughts of dessert and or extra drinks/coffees were non existent by this point and we took the opportunity to pay the waiter (who was very apologetic) and leave ASAP. to cook ourselves a decent meal at home.

Overall the whole experience was very poor – Some of the menu was unavailable, the food didn’t taste very fresh, we didn’t receive what we ordered and every dish was ruined by the vast amount of dressing or oils. Hid this been a cheap evening out it would have been disappointing enough but with an overall bill of £106 for only 2 courses where the highlight was a Greek salad and chips, it left me feeling very ‘ripped off’ and spoiled what should have been a memorable evening for the two of us.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Tasteless, unimaginative food. I love whitebaits, so was pleased to see them on the menu. The portion was gigantic, but they were so bad (not crispy and soaked with oil) that I managed to eat only few!

The prawns where grilled without shells, so dry and tough.

First and last time.
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Katrina
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Saturday, March 22, 2008

Booked a table at the Richmond retaurant for 7.30pm on Saturday.

Arrived on time to a virtually empty restaurant.

Eventually got asked what we wanted after 20 mins. Obv understaffed for 8 customers.

Had scallops for a starter. I believe it was one scallop cut in three.

Decided on the haddock only to be told they had run out. 8.00pm!! Was offered the cod as an alternative. Friend ordered the risotto.

What can i say? Completely flavourless. Small portions. mcCain oven chips by the look of them. The risotto was far too salty and appeared to have sat under the lights for some time. You know, that hard, crusty looking layer just appearing.

Both plates went back hardly touched.

Give them their due they didn't charge for the meal or the wine (which was excellent).

Not sure what went wrong but at least they listened to our opinion.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Monday, October 22, 2007

visited the Parsons Green site last nigh with high hopes. I agree with other reviews concerning size of tables (too small) and indeed portion sizes (unbelievably small). In addition they were clearly understaffed. We waited almost two hours for our mains to arrive (after the new chef supposedly dropped them on the floor on the first attempt). The only consolation was when the fish did arrive it was good. Even with the restaurant picking up our drinks bill (large after a couple of hours waiting for the food...) the bill was still poor value for the food and service we had received. Given the high prices, small portions and low service offering anyone would have thought this chain was run by accountants...
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, September 20, 2007

Went to the Fishworks in Primrose Hill... They were having a quiet night and closed the kitchen. The Fishmonger was keen to make sure we had our fishtastic evening and put us in a taxi and paid for the journey to Marylebone.

Arrived at Marylebone treated like royality a few comp glasses of Champers and we were happy as larry.

Bring on the fish platter! So the fish platter - Cockles / Mussles / Oysters / Crab / Lobster all good. The crab beat the lobster actually and don't really like it. We should of just had some smaller hot starters after that monster but we went for mains anyway.

The Swordfish was disapointing - the thick steak that was expected didn't arrive and the steak drew a greasy complaint from the missus and wasn't finished.

I went for a pretty basic Haddock and chips - The homemade tartare sauce made the whole thing come alive and really made the meal. The mushy peas tasted spicey to me for some reason.

117 all in... We did pick the most expensive Dish so we expected that.

Good would do it again.
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Music Towers - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

My daughter and I popped in for an early supper. As a lover of fish, I'd always wanted to try Fishworks and the cafe-like ambiance of the restaurant led me to believe that we could try a few small dishes and get a 'flavour' of the place for a reasonable price. Sadly I was mistaken. First, for a treat, I ordered myself a bellini but it tastest stale and wasn't a treat at all. Next the waiter read out a long list of items that weren't available. Reading the other reviews for Fishworks in general, this seems to be a common complaint, so why don't they compile a daily menu of what is available? Our two starters of grilled oysters and herring roes with capers were fine and tasty. However, we also fancied some some crab and as the Devon crab was off menu, we were encouraged to try the Alaskan crab. It was £25 a serving, so my daughter and I decided to share. Some very ungainly legs of crab arrived with the tiniest bowl of fries and a pot of mayonnaise. And I can now report that Alaskan crab is the most unflavoursome seafood I have ever eaten! Far, far from the wonderful rich flavour of English crab. My partner then joined us and had a pleasant bowl of seafood risotto and we shared a small carafe of white wine. The bill came to £90. Phew, so much much for a tasty, quick supper.
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Alice Harper
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Monday, May 21, 2007

I've eaten a few times at Fishworks in Marylebone. Each time the food has been great - really fresh produce, cooked simply. The fishmongers at the front of the restaurant are friendly and really knowledgeable.
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Chris Wood
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, May 16, 2007